Cherokee County Fire – Now Class 2/2Y

November 29, 2018

Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services announces that the new ISO (Insurance Service Office) rating will go into effect this Saturday, December 1st. Back on Tuesday September 4th, Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, announced to the Board of Commissioners that the new ISO Public Protection Class (PPC) will go from a split Class 3/3Y to a split Class 2/2Y rating.

The ISO schedules reviews for all fire departments every three years. The PPC rating determines how well your local fire department can protect your community and home. Insurance companies use the score to help calculate home insurance rates, as a home that is less likely to be severely damaged or destroyed by fire earns lower rates to insure.In general, the ISO has a classification system of Class-1 through Class-10. Class-10 is basically an area where fire suppression capabilities do not meet any kind of minimum requirement of ISO whereas as the Class-1 is the best rating that can be achieved. There are approximately 46,000 fire departments in the United States. Approximately 242 departments have achieved the Class-1 status and just over 1,325 departments have obtained a Class-2. Cherokee County Fire now ranks in the top 4% of Fire Departments nationwide.

Calculations used by the Insurance Industry vary from company to company. As a result of this change, Chief Prather recommends that property owners check with their perspective insurance agents to determine if there will be any significant change with their insurance rates. “Most all of the insurance companies have their own specific process in determining rates” says Chief Prather. So in short, an ISO classification is not the sole source in determining rates. “But, I do believe it is large part of a calculation with most companies. It is notable to mention that current property owners that were being provided service by Cherokee County will see the change from Class3/3Y to Class-2/2Y. With the current consolidation of fire services with the City of Canton, the city residents will see a change from Class-4 to the Class-2/2Y which could mean a larger difference. Again, this can only be determined by contacting your insurance agent,” stated Chief Prather.